While I am not much into animated movies, I watched this one because it was in our NetFlix queue and it got great reviews throughout. I don’t regret it.

This movie tells a love story of Carl and Ellie, who get to know each other as kids and grow old together as husband and wife, in a life so much like our own real lives, losing one dream after another to the more mundane problems of flat tires, lost jobs and bad economies. Carl, by the time he is a cantankerous old man, with Ellie passed away, decides to go on the one big adventure of his life, in honor of Ellie, and to keep his sanity. He is joined by a hapless but lovable boy scout, a dog and an exotic bird in an epic battle in South America against un unexpected villain in a giant airship.

Within the first 30 seconds of the film, the characters become as real as any human actors and characters would be, the detail of the animation, down to images distorted through transparent helium balloons and color, music and voices so real it grips you. It’s a cute story, and there is something for everyone here, as in every Pixar movie. Adults find great and clean adult humor, and kids of all ages will find their own enjoyment. And nobody, age 4 through age 104, would be bored for a second in this movie.

This is a Pixar masterpiece.

Rating: ***